DEBRA S. SANDERS

REVIEW: Pangaea – A Rollicking Sci-Fi Adventure

REVIEW:

Pangeaea: Eden’s Planet by Tom Johnson offers something for everyone: a fresh take on a familiar Sci-fi theme which should thrill Sci-Fi and Fantasy buffs; romantic elements with “swoon” factor for romance addicts; non-stop adventure for adrenaline junkies; survivalist theme for preppers; and a shorter length (50k) for those readers who have limited time to devote to reading but still want the punch of a longer story.

Have you bought this book yet? You should.

Pangaea is the tale of an ill-fated NASA crew on their way to Mars by way of the Twilight Zone. (Sorry, had to throw that in!) The crew soon finds themselves on a prehistoric planet with danger and threats around every tree, boulder and hill and valley. Our adventurers encounter monstrous creatures so realistic you might find yourself looking over your shoulder as well as some pretty scary humanoids. The characters are fun, quirky and well developed. But don’t get complacent. Pangaea is also about surviving insurmountable odds with limited resources. People get killed.

I don’t want to give away the ending which was a surprise for me . . . and I’m not slow to catch on . . . so go buy the book. You’ll be glad you did!

Seven astronauts en route to Mars encounter a time warp in space that disables their ship. Crash landing on Earth, they discover an alien planet sixty million years before the dinosaurs.

Pangaea, the super continent, is filled with danger and terror, as they must survive against fierce reptiles that ruled the Earth 250 million years in the past!

Excerpt:

“Damn!” he let out a whoop, “My foot’s caught in something. Someone shine their light down here!”

When two flashlight beams were aimed at his feet, three voices sounded as one:

“Oh, hell, what is that thing?”

The twin beams illuminated not only the major’s trapped foot, but also the thing that had hold of it. Cooper had stepped into something like a giant circular pit with gentle sloping sides that culminated in a center at the bottom, like a whirlpool in sand. A long, dark vine had wrapped around his ankle. Only the thing wasn’t a vine, it was some kind of slender arm with thick scales, and steel-like strength. And the arm was slowly, but steadily pulling him towards the creature waiting at the bottom!

Like the head of an octopus, there was a bulbous cranium sticking out of the sand at the bottom of the pit. The skull-like thing was covered with a thick layer of scales like those of a reptile, but that’s where the resemblance ended. There were no eyes visible, only a round mouth, with many sharp, pointed teeth. The long, powerful, scaly arm was pulling Cooper towards that gaping mouth!

Pulling the automatic pistol from its holster, the major fired point blank at that bulbous head, until the clip emptied. He was aware of Colonel Peterson firing her pistol at the same time, and heard its audible click as well. Their pistols were useless now. In an act of blind rage, he threw the empty automatic at the head of the ugly monster, and was satisfied to see it strike the creature in the mouth. It must have injured one of the teeth, for the creature shook for a second. But the awful arm continued to pull him ever closer to the wide opening and horrible death.

He was only a yard from the monster when he suddenly yelled, “The spear. Throw me the spear, quickly!”

Colonel Peterson was nearest to the spear, and she grabbed it up and jumped into the pit, as if intent on rushing the creature herself. But Major Cooper grabbed the long, metal weapon from her hand and pushed her out of harm’s way, as he brought the weapon high above his head just as he came within reach of those deadly teeth.

About the Author:

As a twenty-year military veteran, I served on the Korean DMZ under fire, as well as in Vietnam. I have a law enforcement background. My studies of paleontology and entomology have been an influence in many of my novels.

My wife and I started the publishing imprint of FADING SHADOWS in 1982, and published a hobby magazine and several genre magazines for 22 years, before I settled into writing my own novels.

I have now been published in over 80 books, which include fiction novels and short stories, as well as nonfiction books. I write SF, YA, Western, and Action novels.